By JAMES WALLACE, P-I AEROSPACE REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Monday, November 6, 2006

The first large sections of The Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner could arrive in Everett by February, as the pace of the company's most important program quickens before first flight in late August.

But significant challenges remain before the first plane is delivered to All Nippon Airways of Japan in May 2008, Mike Bair, vice president and general manager of the program, said Monday.

Not the least of those is weight.

Boeing is redesigning a number of parts to try to get roughly 2.5 tons out of the jet, Bair disclosed in a briefing for reporters.

Until now, Boeing has said only that the 787 was 2 percent to 3 percent overweight but hadn't translated that into pounds.

But on the plus side, Bair also revealed that the operating economics of the 787 will be better than Boeing engineers had figured earlier.

Boeing has long said the 787 would produce 8 percent to 10 percent better cash operating costs for an airline than the 767-300ER that it is replacing. This includes how much money an airline would spend on fuel and maintenance. That has improved by 2 to 3 percentage points, Bair said. Most of that change is because of "dramatically" lower maintenance costs, he said. The 787 will be the world's first large commercial jetliner with a composite, or plastic, airframe. Composites don't corrode or fatigue like metal does.

The efficiency of the 787 is the most attractive feature for customers, who have already placed a record 432 firm orders for the plane. That's better than any of Boeing's previous new airplane programs at this point in the development process, Bair said.

Delivery positions for the 787 are essentially sold out until 2013. Bair said he thought interest in the 787 might begin to wane because customers can't get one until well into the next decade. But that hasn't happened, Bair said.

"It continues to be a very active market," Bair said. He noted that when the Russian carrier Aeroflot recently had to relinquish its 787 delivery slots, other hungry customers were waiting to pounce.

A potential 787 customer can make a deposit with Boeing to hold a place in the delivery line, but it must follow through with a firm order. The Russian government failed to approve the purchase of about 20 787s and Aeroflot lost its place in line.

With so much interest in its plane, Boeing continues to look at how fast and by how much it can raise production to get more 787s into the hands of customers, Bair said. This includes the possibility of a second production line at the Everett plant. But Boeing won't crank up production until after the first 112 jets are delivered from May 2008 through 2009. Boeing wants to make sure all the kinks in the production line and supply chain have been worked out before boosting rates. Boeing is expected eventually to raise rates to as many as 14 planes per month. That's more than double any previous Boeing production rate for one of its widebody jets.

Meanwhile, Boeing has a team working to get the extra weight out of the plane.

"There's some uncertainty here," Bair said when asked how much the 787 may be overweight. He said Boeing has weighed only a small percent of the parts that have so far been made.

"From everything we have looked at, it looks like we are a little bit on the pudgy side," Bair said.

But Boeing won't know how much the 787 actually weighs until assembly of the first 787 is completed, Bair said. To get weight out, some aluminum parts will be remade with titanium. A number of parts are being redesigned to cut down on weight, Bair said.

"We know exactly where we have to take the weight out," Bair said.

It's not unusual for a new airplane program to experience weight problems. Emirates, a key customer for the Airbus A380, which is now in flight tests, recently said that plane is more than 6 tons too heavy.

Boeing Chairman and Chief Executive Jim McNerney told industry analysts two weeks ago that Boeing will spend a total of about $500 million more this year and next year to tackle the 787 weight problem as well as 787 supplier issues. This is being done to make sure the Dreamliner is delivered on time, McNerney said.

Boeing does not want a replay of the A380 mess that Airbus is dealing with. In addition to being too heavy, the 555-passeneger jet is two years late because of what Airbus has said are wiring problems.

Some 787 work is behind schedule, and Bair acknowledged that wiring is "always a challenge." But he noted that the A380 has about 350 miles of wiring and the 787 only 60 miles, which is about 30 miles less than the slightly smaller 767.

Some of the extra R&D money for the 787 has been set aside to hire more mechanics in Everett to assemble the 787, should they be needed. This is for "travel" work, or work that is supposed to be done by Boeing's suppliers but won't get finished until the plane is in final assembly in Everett.

Final assembly of the first 787 will begin in the second quarter of next year, Bair said, with rollout of the first plane in early summer.

Large sections of the 787 are being manufactured by Boeing's partners in Japan, Italy, Wichita, Kan., and Charleston, S.C. The composite wings and fuselage barrels will be flown to Everett for final assembly on a modified 747.

The next big 787 milestone, Bair said, is a "virtual" rollout of the plane next month. The 787 has been designed on computers using digital tools. Every screw and bolt, including the production system, is in a Boeing database in Seattle.

Using this database, Boeing will simulate the actual assembly and rollout of the 787. This simulation will be done in real time, meaning Boeing's entire 787 team around the world will be able to watch the plane take shape on computer screens.

Bair likened it to watching a video game.

The 787 database is so detailed that it even includes where a mechanic must put his or her hand to install a particular part, Bair said.